


Deductive Reasoning

by Stormwind13



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-03-28
Updated: 2012-04-05
Packaged: 2017-11-02 15:06:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/370322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stormwind13/pseuds/Stormwind13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the assassin Cain reappears in Gotham at the same time as an unscrupulous businessman, Batman knows the two events are connected. Now he has to figure out how before someone gets hurt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Wednesday

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: If I owned DC, Stephanie Brown would still be Batgirl – thus I own nothing.
> 
> A/N: This is an AU and it is a pre-reboot AU. Also has references to Batman Beyond, but is comics based. Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated. And yes, they will be acting slightly OOC, its an AU.

Wednesday

Bruce glanced around the large office as he stepped into it for the first time in months. Lucius had kept everything the way it had been when he had vanished, allowing no one besides his sons and the cleaning crews access. He wandered absently around the room, re-familiarizing with the layout and the objects that decorated the shelves; mementos and small presents that the boys had gotten for him over the years – most from Dick, one of two from Jason and Tim and one, shockingly enough, that had been thrust at him by Damian as he had left this morning. He turned the clumsily carved bird over in his hand, examining the workmanship – crude, but the boy had obviously put quite a bit of effort into it. He examined the shelves and, finding an empty space near the middle, placed the carving next to a child's drawing of Batman and Robin and an odd looking piece of blown glass.

"Mr. Wayne?" He looked up as Lucius Fox stepped into the room, followed by Derek Powers, an up and coming business man that Batman had been investigating recently. He hadn't been impressed with what he had found – and neither was Bruce; Powers already had a reputation as a ruthless man who would do anything to get ahead, including extortion, blackmail and murder.

"Mr. Powers, I look forward to seeing the proposal that you're bringing to the table." Actually, Bruce was certain that the proposal was designed to further Powers Inc. at the expense of Wayne Enterprises as much as possible, but Bruce wasn't a good actor for nothing. "Let me give the paperwork a once over and I'll get back to you by next Monday."

Powers gave him a thin smile and stood to go, glancing around the office and taking in the various pictures and knick-knacks. "Family trinkets?" Bruce could hear the sneer in the other man's voice, the condescension evident in his eyes. No, Bruce didn't think Powers ever would put little gifts and presents in his office – assuming that he even received them.

"Some." Bruce kept his answer short, not wanting to discuss his children with the man in front of him. Something, instinct, was telling him that he didn't want Powers to know any more about his sons than the man could get in the newspaper. And Bruce trusted his instincts. "If that will be all, I have a business lunch to attend. Is nine o'clock on Monday good for you?"

"That should be fine. I'll be in town for a few weeks, talking to other businesses." Another smile that didn't reach the man's eyes. "See you then."

"Yes." Bruce waited until the door shut behind the man. "Yes, maybe even sooner."

The rest of the day was a whirlwind of people, forms to sign, and meetings to attend, so it wasn't until later that evening that Bruce found the time to actually look at the paperwork that Powers had given him. Tim and Damian were both in the office, reading copies – Tim because he was actually named as Bruce's heir and Damian because he honestly did want to know how the company worked outside of intimidating a few board members.

"Bruce, this contract is ridiculous." Tim highlighted another section that he thought was benefiting Powers at WE's expense before passing the paper over to Damian for confirmation. Damian read the paragraph, flipped back towards the front of the contract and frowned.

"Yes. The person who wrote this obviously thinks you're either a simpleton or won't actually read this front to back." A pause as Damian glared at the paper. "What does this mean?"

Tim leaned over and read the section Damian was pointing at, then allowed the younger boy to flip forward to the section he originally had been reading. "It means that if the conditions of this first paragraph here meet the conditions of this second paragraph here, then Wayne Enterprises owes Powers fifty shares of stock for every instance mentioned."

"It's referring to the retirement of 'long term employees of good standing'. All employees that make it to retirement are in good standing. Otherwise they wouldn't have made it to retirement." Damian sat up from where he had been sprawled on the floor – a mannerism that he had adopted fairly quickly from Dick – and stretched. "You aren't going to agree to something this insipid, are you father?"

Bruce glanced up briefly before returning his attention to the papers. "No. This contract isn't fair to the stockholders, the employees or the family. I am not going to allow the company that my father built up to be destroyed like that."

Tim gave a hum of acknowledgement before he glanced at the old grandfather clock in the corner – not the one leading to the Batcave, but the whole mansion was covered with them. "We going on patrol tonight?"

"Take Dick or Jason with you, I'll be out in a few hours." Tim and Damian exchanged quick glances and rose. "And contact them before you leave the cave."

Tim gave a quick nod, knowing that sneaking out of the cave with Damian in tow was probably not a good idea at this point – Tim could take care of himself, but Damian was unused to working with – or listening to – anyone but Dick or Alfred. And Alfred was a little old to be swinging over the rooftops to keep the youngest Wayne in line.


	2. Thursday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Also, I'm trying to write Damian as swinging back and forth from acting like an entitled brat to an unsure ten year that isn't quite sure how he fits into his family, which is kind of how he acts in the comics. So if he seems OOC, that's why.
> 
> Disclaimer: If I owned Batman, Jim Lee would be doing all of the drawing.

Thursday 

"…and that is why I think it would be in Wayne Enterprises best interests to not agree to any deal that Powers offers us." The Board of Directors was holding their weekly meeting – a tradition that had been started back when the company had first gotten so large as to need a board of directors. And now, Bruce watched as every member of the board looked over the highlighted sections, the clauses and the written explanations that his secretaries had added this morning.

"Bruce, is there any way to get this cleaned up and offer a counter proposal?" Jason Bundy had finished first and was now rereading the merger plan. "Powers Incorporated is one of the most productive manufacturers in the country."

"I can have someone go over it and try to salvage it, but the only way that this should be acceptable is if it was completely rewritten." Bruce didn't try to hide his skepticism from the men – there wasn't a point; they all knew that the proposal in front of them was detrimental to the company. Lucius Fox was already nodding, selecting the person most qualified to write up a counter offer for Powers.

"It will take a few weeks to get it written up and through legal, but I can get someone started on it today."

"That would be excellent, Lucius." Bruce glanced at the men around the table – good men, for the most part. "And I believe that was the last item on our agenda?" A round of nods. "In that case, meeting adjourned."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I don't want to attend school." Dick glanced up from where he was staring at the large pile of paperwork that had been express shipped to him from New York to give Damian an exasperated look. This wasn't the first time they'd gone over this.

"Well, the law says you kinda have to, D." They were currently in the penthouse, Dick having agreed to take Damian while Alfred did…whatever Alfred did when they weren't around. The butler hadn't really been forthcoming on that point, but Dick enjoyed be able to eat when he visited the manor, so he hadn't pushed.

"You can home school me. That is also perfectly legal. Or you can hire tutors like mother did." Dick refrained from pointing out that Talia had done that to avoid actually raising him – there was no need to rub the fact in the kid's face.

"And Bruce wants you to go to the same school that we attended. He's your legal guardian, which means he's the one you need to have this conversation with." Dick actually felt bad when he saw the look on Damian's face.

"He's never home and I can't have this particular conversation with Batman." Damian did have a point… "Besides, he's leaving this evening to go to Tokyo without stopping at the manor or here. When am I supposed to actually talk to him?"

"Umm…" Dick floundered at that. Bruce was leaving for the weekend to work on Batman Inc., Dick was going to the Watchtower to cover a shift and that left Damian at home with Tim and Alfred. "Talk to him Sunday, when he gets back. You're probably still going to have to go – at least for a little while, but at least he'll know you don't want to."

"Tt. Fine."


	3. Friday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Also, Jason has moved past the point where he wants to kill his brothers and he has Jenson Ackles' voice (love B:UtRH). As always, please review and let me know how I'm doing. Also, written with a lot of help from my sister/coauthor/editor/motivator

Friday   
"That is completely ridiculous." Damian stood in front of the training mat in the Batcave, watching his brothers with an expression that was somewhere in between incredulous and amused. Jason and Tim exchanged glances that were definitely amused.  
"It's improving hand eye coordination." Jason didn't take his eyes off the screen, fingers working the controller frantically. Tim gave a nod as well, not really paying attention to the conversation.  
"You are playing a child's game that requires you to kill people to win!" Damian frowned at the screen.  
"It's fun, kid. It's not stressful and keeps Timmy from flipping out and killing everyone." Tim snorted at that, but wisely didn't comment. Jason was pretty good at his chokeholds. Besides, the weekend had been peaceful thus far, even without Bruce and Dick to play referee and he didn't want to spoil it.  
"Are we going on patrol?" Damian couldn't stop a little bit of a whine from creeping into his voice, something that, while annoying, meant that he was actually headed towards normalcy. His mother would be horrified; his older brothers were delighted. Jason tilted his head back so that he could see him.  
"Yeah, but not right now, it's barely dark. Give it a couple of hours." Jason had recently ditched his Red Hood persona for Shadowhawk, in keeping with the bird theme of his brothers. Tim had also upgraded his costume and lost the cowl and cape.  
Damian huffed and crossed his arms, scowling at the TV screen as Jason returned his attention to the game. A few minutes later, Tim became aware of his little brother still standing behind them and this time he tilted his head back to see him.  
"You can sit down, you know," he told him. He patted the spot between him and Jason. "Come on." Damian moved forward, a little cautiously and settled down beside Tim, instead of between him and Jason, about a foot away. Tim shrugged. Damian still hadn't quite gotten to the point of allowing complete and total unconditional physical contact, nor, apparently, would he allow himself to the fulfill the want of sitting between his older brothers, something he obviously wanted to do, but wasn't quite sure if he could. Tim wrestled with himself for a moment before pausing the game and setting down his controller. Jason looked half-annoyed and half-curious, but stayed silent, waiting for his younger brother. Damian looked over at him when he didn't move.  
"What are you doing?" He asked. Tim grinned and before Damian could react, reached over scooped him and plopped him down between him and Jason. Damian squirmed, but Jason scooted closer to him and dropped the controller in his lap. Damian stilled and looked down at the device in surprise.  
"I don't know how…" His voice was a little quieter now and there was only a hint of uncertainty that both his brothers picked up on. Damian never really talked about his life with the League, but Alfred had informed them in an unofficial family meeting, while Damian was in bed, that Damian sometimes treated Alfred like a confidant and shared some of his experiences and insecurities. One of the things he mentioned was mild abuse for not picking up on something quickly. This was one of the first times his brothers were actually teaching him something one-on-one and he was clearly nervous.  
"It's easy," Jason said. He wrapped an arm Damian and guided the younger boy's hands to the controller. Damian, surprisingly enough, relaxed with physical contact. Jason just hoped the kid wasn't going to think Jason was trying to make it easier for himself to hurt the kid if he didn't learn fast enough. Damian was tense enough as it was. "Timmy? You wanna start it up?"  
Tim started the game and began shooting again while Jason taught Damian the basics of gaming.  
"Okay, so this black button here lets you throw grenades. You shoot with the 'A' button and press the 'B' button to jump. Get it?" He waited for Damian's nod and the small scowl at the implication that he might not be able to understand something so basic. "Okay, so the 'X' button will let you pick stuff up. Oh, and the black button on the back lets you reload." He moved his arm away from Damian. "Let's see what you got."  
"What-" Damian made a small noise of frustration when he got hit "-exactly are we playing?" Jason and Tim looked at each other for a moment.  
"Ah…Terminator, I think," Jason answered. "I dunno, whatever the case on top of the console says." Tim angled himself slightly to see the cover.  
"Yup, Terminator," Tim said. "Movie night's coming up tomorrow. We should watch it." Jason gave him a look eerily reminiscent of Dick's. Tim wisely kept the smile off his face so he wouldn't have to explain and get the shit beat out of him for even thinking of making the comparison.  
"He's ten, Tim." Damian let out a muffled curse when his avatar died because he'd been distracted by the conversation. Tim cocked a brow over Damian's head at Jason.  
"Damian, you really shouldn't talk like that," Jason scolded half-heartedly.  
"Yes, mother," Damian deadpanned. Then froze.  
"Don't confuse me with Alfred." Jason didn't miss a beat, covering up Damian's minor freak-out.  
"Seriously, dude. You're acting like D-…like Alfred."Tim was also quick to move the moment past Damian's slip of the tongue, if only for the sake of the kid's pride.  
"Dad left me in charge," Jason shrugged, not missing the cover-up. "What can I say?"  
"'Tim, Damian needs to see 'Terminator' so that his childhood will be more fulfilled?'" Tim suggested. "Or 'Sarah Connor is hot.'" Jason choked on his spit.  
"Dude, he's ten. He's not watching that!"  
"We can fast forward that part, I don't care."  
"Liar."  
"For his sake, I don't."  
"Fast forward what part?" Damian interrupted. Tim looked at him as if to say 'You brought it up, you deal with it.'  
"You're in charge," Tim told him, grinning.  
"A part not appropriate for minors," Jason said. Damian scowled.  
"Tim's a minor."  
"Let me rephrase that. Not appropriate for anyone under thirteen," Jason told him, inwardly wincing. He was starting to sound like Dick.  
________________________________________  
~What Dick?~ Bruce was in Tokyo for the weekend, meeting with the Bladed Samurai, Japan's hero, to try and recruit him for Batman Inc. Katana was with him, easing the way between the two headstrong heroes. So Dick politely ignored the fact his dad sounded – for Batman – completely exasperated.  
~Was it really a good idea to leave them alone for the weekend?~ It wasn't that Dick didn't trust his siblings not to kill each other (anymore), but Jason and Damian both had a highly disturbing love of high explosives that Tim was usually more than happy to go along with in order to 'see what would happen'. That and when Jason and Damian worked together, the number of criminals hospitalized during patrol tended to increase exponentially.  
~They'll be fine. ~ Dick could almost hear the smirk in Bruce's voice as it came over the radio. ~I thought I was supposed to be the worrying, brooding one in the family. ~  
That was another thing. Bruce was back and that was good. But Bruce telling a joke? That was weird. Not bad weird, just weird.  
~Just have a bad feeling, is all.~ And that was the crux of it – that niggling feeling of worry that had been getting steadily stronger ever since he had left to spend the weekend in the Watchtower with the rest of the Justice League.  
~Just make it until Sunday night and we'll both be back in Gotham. We'll figure things out then.~ Bruce wouldn't just dismiss Dick's gut – it was right too often. So, feeling a bit better, Batman turned whatever argument that Flash and Vixen were having.  
________________________________________  
"Can you do it?" Powers glanced out of the window of his hotel, watching as, below him, Gotham City began to prepare for nightfall. With the camouflage of night, an outsider could almost forget the ugliness and rot that the daylight exposed. But Powers had never been on to shirk from an observation and to him the corruption felt like home. Whatever answer he was given seemed to please him and a smirk appeared briefly on his face before vanishing. "Good. I don't care how you do it, but get it done."


End file.
